Tokyo AttributeIn my late teenage and early twenties, I was depressed, repeated a high school year, unemployed and away from socializing with other people due to the lingering illness for years being repeatedly hospitalized. So, it is still hard for me to accept the adolescence as a part of my life.
Motivation of this photographic project was first to trace the scar of the inferior complex in my past adolescence by projecting myself into the youth of today.

“Tokyo Attribute” is a series of portraits of young strangers whom I encounter on Omotesandō Avenue in Tokyo`s Shibuya district.

The avenue, which was once devastated in an air raid in 1940s, has evolved into the epicenter of fashion trends since the lifestyles of U.S. military personnel in the adjacent areas brought American culture to the avenue during the Allied postwar occupation.

As the project continues it expands my viewpoint and the street fashion becomes the essential vehicle of exploring the experiences in the subjects. Also, it is purely their visual statements mirroring the modern Tokyo.– Hiroki Nakashima –